Giorgos Mazonakis laid to rest in Nikaia as Paola and Nikos Oikonomopoulos join farewell

Greece said goodbye to Giorgos Mazonakis on Monday, 14 September 2026, at the Church of the Holy Trinity in Nikaia, the Athens suburb where the singer was born and raised.

Mazonakis died on 9 September at the age of 54 after suffering cardiac arrest during a plasmapheresis procedure at a private clinic in Athens. The circumstances of his death are under investigation.

His body was brought to the church on Sunday for an overnight public vigil. Thousands of fans gathered through the night, leaving flowers and singing his songs. Many had travelled from other parts of Greece to pay their respects in the neighbourhood he never left behind.

The funeral service began at 1 p.m. and was open to the public. Burial followed at Athens’ Third Cemetery in a private family ceremony. The family asked that donations be made to Humanity Greece instead of wreaths.

Artists at the church

Colleagues from the music world arrived to say a last goodbye. Among them were Paola and Nikos Oikonomopoulos, along with other singers who had shared stages and years of work with Mazonakis.

Paola, a longtime friend and occasional duet partner, was visibly moved as she approached the coffin. One account circulating in Greek media said she broke down and spoke a brief farewell: “Δεν το χωράει ο νους μου…” (“My mind cannot take it in…”). The exact wording has not been independently confirmed across major outlets, but her presence and grief were widely noted.

Oikomonopoulos also attended. In comments reported around the funeral, he said Mazonakis had kept calling him for about a month and a half and that he felt remorse — a sign of how sudden the loss felt among people close to him.

A public goodbye

Metropolitan Bishop Alexios of Nikaia led the service and spoke of the affection the public held for Mazonakis and his songs. Outside, fans applauded the cortege and called out farewells as it left for the cemetery.

Mazonakis was more than a chart name. For three decades his voice belonged to nightlife, radio and family gatherings across Greece. The scenes in Nikaia — the vigil, the songs, the crowded church — were the public’s way of returning that connection one last time.

He is gone. The songs remain.

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